Vehicle safety has improved dramatically over the years. Initially many of the improvements were due to advances in the materials selected for various automobile components. For example safety glass, which was first introduced for use in cars in the 1920's, helped to reduce serious injuries and/or fatalities to the driver, passengers and bystanders that often resulted from the windshield or other vehicle windows being shattered in a car crash. Similarly, adding padding to the passenger compartment, most notably to the surfaces of the dashboard, helped minimize head injuries during sudden vehicle stops, especially those due to a collision. Two of the most significant safety advancements made to date, seat belts and air bags, have been estimated to have saved over 300,000 lives in the past 40 years.
While initially most vehicle safety improvements were the result of design changes in individual components or vehicle subsystems, today many of the greatest advances in safety are the result of using a computer to anticipate a problem and provide rapid corrective action. In some instances the computer system is used to enhance vehicle performance, and thus safety, exemplary systems including electronic stability control and anti-lock brakes. In other cases the computer is used to monitor vehicle and/or driver performance and activate warnings when needed. For example, a computer-based system may be used to activate a warning if it appears that the driver is becoming drowsy or driving erratically, e.g., unintentionally departing from the current lane or approaching another car/stationary object at too high a rate of speed or changing lanes when another car is in the driver's blind spot. It yet other systems, in addition to monitoring vehicle/driver performance and activating warnings as deemed necessary, the computer may also be used to augment driver performance to avoid a collision, for example by automatically initiating braking or increasing hydraulic pressure in the braking system during a panic stop. Computer systems are also being used in today's cars to simplify the task of driving, for example by helping the driver to safely park their car using parking sensors and cameras.
Even though technology has been used in recent years to improve vehicle safety, many of these computer-based systems only provide the driver with limited information, for example a warning when the car is about to hit something while being parked. Accordingly, what is needed is a means for effectively and timely communicating data acquired by these systems to the driver, while simultaneously avoiding unnecessary driver distractions. The present invention provides such a system.